Overall and Final Verdict

Its been a long time coming, a full 10 years even, from the launch of the SteelSeries Xai to the Sensei Ten and I couldn’t be happier to see the classic shape come back. I’ve used hundreds of mice over the years but every once in a while there is a design that I keep coming back to over and over. The Sensei and the Xai before it have been my main mouse 8 out of the last 10 years. The shape was so important to me that I put up with the issues with the sensor and quality issues on multiple Sensei’s to continue to use it. I only finally stopped using it when the Sensei 310 came out, but was chased off soon after by issues with its rubber grips. Sometimes, what everyone wants is just the same as what has always been there, but with the new tech inside. That is exactly what the Sensei Ten is, the original shape with updated switches and sensor and a few other quality of life improvements like dropping the stiff sleeved cable, flatter gliders, a glider around the sensor, an improved scroll wheel, and the cord protector. Almost all of those were added or changed to fix a defect or problem with the original design. Because of that from what I can tell the Sensei Ten looks like it is going to have much better quality over the past designs.

Along with the classic shape, the same styling is still there as well. That means you have just the one SteelSeries logo which is backlit and hidden up under your palm and the RGB lighting on the scroll wheel. Given how far things have gotten with RGB lighting, this is now a very clean and simple design. The only thing I don’t like is the continued use of the rubber finish. Don’t get me wrong, it feels nice to touch. But beyond it sucking up oils from your hand and looking nasty quickly. These coatings have proven to not hold up in the end. A simple design with a plastic shell or painted shell would be better for long term durability I think unless SteelSeries has made significant changes to the coating.

With all of the hardware updated fixing the sensor acceleration, mouse switch durability, and scroll wheel issues you might think the Sensei Ten is perfect. I do think there is some room for improvement in it. The coating as I already mentioned would be a good place to start. Beyond that, while the new cord without sleeving is an improvement. It is still a big downgrade from the Sensei 310 cord and this was my biggest issue with the mouse in my testing. The cord wasn’t flexible enough, without a cleaner desk which I don’t know if will ever happen for me I need the cord to be flexible enough to not push back and fight me when moving it around. I also think that while the weight of the Sensei Ten is better than the original Sensei, it is a touch heavy compared to the competition today or even compared to the Sensei RAW. While I do want the Sensei/Xai shape I wouldn’t be against improving the interior design to cut weight. This is especially important if they are to ever consider doing a new wireless model. The Logitech G Pro Wireless is similar in size and shape and ends up being 14 grams lighter while also being wireless.

As for pricing, the Sensei Ten comes in with an MSRP of $69.99. This is $10 more than the Sensei 310 was priced at launch and the Sensei RAW at its launch. Logitech has almost all of their mice at the $69.99 MSRP and Razer has the new Viper at $79.99 so they are at least competing there. That, of course, ignored the MM710 that I just reviewed which comes in at $49.99. Overall I feel like the price is a touch high when the same shape was cheaper in the past. But I’m willing to overlook the pricing given that it does fall in line with most of the competition and because I’m happy to finally have the classic shape back with a proper sensor. The Sensei Ten is a big step up from the past versions and if you are still using an old Sensei I would highly recommend the upgrade. There is room for SteelSeries to improve on the design still and I hope they aren’t afraid to continue to work on it. A new RAW model without the rubber, with the 310 cord, and potentially lighter in weight would be amazing!

fv5recommended

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

Log in to comment

We have 4258 guests and no members online

supportus